Star Wars: Savior's Return
by Rex Resede90
Summary: The Clone Wars is still raging on, and Darth Sideous' plan might succeed, if not for the effort of Ahsoka Tano, the Prodigal Knight, and Task Force Shadowheart, veterans of the Iconian War. . .
1. Prologue

Star Wars

Savior's Return

It's been a long war, but the

Clone Wars continues to rage on. Generals

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have been

busy defending Kamino from yet another

Separatist invasion led by

General Grievous.

Meanwhile, Darth Sideous and Count Dooku

Have hired bounty hunters to go and capture Anakin's

former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, who was recently exiled from

the Jedi Order, and bring her to them.

They plan to have her turned to the

Dark Side of the Force, or kill

her to ensure Anakin's own

fall.

But what neither side realizes is

that a Jedi of the Old Republic, who had

exiled himself from his home galaxy out of shame

for having almost been the cause of the Jedi Order's extinction,

has returned after 4000 years to his own galaxy to find it

changed, and hear Destiny calling once more. . . .

Author's Note- Hi, this is Rex Resede90, and here is a new story for all of you. For those that were following my last story, I just couldn't get it to go where I wanted it on paper. So sorry! But this story should catch your interest! I'll be combining Star Wars with Star Trek Online, two of my favorite sci-fi themes, and my OC will be taking the place of a certain famous former Sith Lord, known only as the Prodigal Knight (if you don't know who this is, I will hunt you down and beat you upside the head with a lightsaber and blast you afterwards with a phaser!). He will be paired up with our favorite Togruta Jedi with an attitude! So I hope you enjoy it!


	2. Ch 1 Return of an Ancient Hero

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Star Trek. If I did, it would have been harder for Palpatine to win.**_

Chap 1: Return of an Ancient Hero

In a distant corner of the galaxy, the planet Korriban continues in its orbit of its star. Former home of the Sith, and the hidden location of the Sith Academy, as well as the current location of the ancient mausoleums of the Sith Lords, its days of infamy has been almost forgotten by the galaxy, save for the historians and Jedi Masters of the Jedi Order. Nowadays, it is completely abandoned, except for the occasional scavengers who die attempting to raid the ruins or crypts for artifacts and valuables. Well, almost completely abandoned, for a single ship that is currently orbiting the planet. Completely black with green highlights in certain places on the ship, one could possibly describe it as a 'predator', for its very design makes it look lethal, a cunning hunter of various starships. The strange thing about this ship is that none of the species in the galaxy had built it. In fact, truth being stranger than fiction, it had come from another galaxy entirely, one where millions of civilizations resides in different quadrants. This particular ship came from a major in the Alpha Quadrant, namely the Romulan Republic. But the crew wasn't just Romulans, there were species from every major power in the Milky Way: from the Humans of the United Federation of Planets, to the Klingons of the Klingon Empire, from Orions to the Changelings, the crew of the _Scimitar_ -class Dreadnought, RRW Shadowblade, save for one person in particular, came to this galaxy as explorers, the first to explore a galaxy other than their own. They came to seek out new technologies, explore never-before-seen civilizations and lifeforms, and check out everything in between. All but one.

On the bridge, several figures could be seen performing various duties. Closest to the viewscreen, the pilot, a Reman, and the tactical officer, a Gorn, were at their stations. The Reman, SubCmdr. Shizon, keeping the ship in perfect orbit while Cmdr. Hquwa was running checks on the various weapons that the Shadowblade uses in combat. Science Officer Lt. Solana, a Orion, was performing various scans of the planet and surrounding system, cataloguing everything the scans picked up for later analysis. Next to her was Cmdr. Johnson, Human and Comm Officer. His only job at the moment was ensuring that the small fleet that followed them through the Iconian Gate was aware of their current position, as well as receiving updates of the ongoing research into the Gate, which was hidden inside a nebula. On the upper level, where a massive display screen, which showed the blueprints of the ship and the various systems power levels, was located, was the chief of security, LtCmdr. Alexander Worf, who was a Klingon. The Captain's Ready Room was located underneath the platform, directly behind the Captain's command chair, which was empty right now. It is here where the orders are given that governs what happens on the ship, or where she goes next. Cmdr. Tovan Khel, a Romulan and the Captain's oldest friend, other than the Counselor, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Engineer, sat in the chair, watching as his friend continued to stare at the planet, knowing why he continued to do so.

Tovan had met the Captain during the attack on his homeworld by the Tal Shiar and the Elachani. He, Serena, his soon-to-be wife and their friends, had boarded an old Romulan _T'Liss_ in an attempt to escape, only to run into three Tal Shiar _D'Deridex_ -class battlecruisers, who ordered them to surrender. But as they were about to give up, the rearmost _D'Deridex_ 's rear compartments suddenly exploded, causing the ship to lose power as it was hit from above by torpedoes of an unknown design, showing that the ship didn't even have its shields on. It was Serena who noticed the battered old ship, roughly the size of a Danube Runabout, swooping in and firing what looks like laser blasts at another battlecruiser, focusing mostly on the shield generator and weapon emplacements. By the time that the third _D'Deridex_ started firing its own weapons at the strange ship, it had forced the second one to retreat after the ship started firing at the general area where the bridge would be located. It was Tovan, however, that noticed that their rescuer could somehow predict where the plasma beams and cannons would fire at, as the ship seemed to juke at just the right time to avoid the weapon fire, even as it continued to return fire at the battlecruiser. With its shields up though, the _D'Deridex_ was just shrugging off the attacks, even as it continued to try to hit the small ship. It was at this point that several _Valdore_ -class Warbirds came out of warp and immediately opened up on the _D'Deridex_ , bringing down its shields long enough for the ship to fire its torpedoes at it, striking the bridge and blowing it to bits. The lead _Valdore_ then hailed them, letting them know that they were safe, and that they were a part of the new Romulan Republic. They also hailed the unknown ship, who was asking for a place to dock his 'Freighter'. That was the day that he and Serena had met someone that they would later learn was from another galaxy: Rex 'Revan' Resede, the Prodigal Knight, former Jedi Master, redeemed Dark Lord of the Sith, and last scion of the Saurian race, a race of hyper-evolved dinosaurs that, unless they fall in battle, were considered immortal. Tovan continued to study his old friend, watching as he continued to get more and more tense as Rex looked on at Korriban, getting lost in old memories. If there was one thing that Rex did not enjoy, it was the memories of his time as Darth Revan. In fact, he was so deep in thought that he jerked when Tovan placed his hand on his shoulder, getting his attention, "What! . . . Oh, sorry Tovan, what did you say?"

"I was going to ask if you were alright, but that seems a little redundant, given how tense you are. Not to mention how hard you were staring at the planet. . ." he said, concerned for his friend and captain. Rex turned back towards the viewscreen, staring at Korriban before replying.

"Yeah, just. . . . four thousand years and the universe still seems to love reminding me of my sins. . ." But before he could say anymore, a female voice spoke up from behind them, causing the two to turn and look at the new arrival on the bridge, "OR! . . . This is the universe, giving you an opportunity to finally put the ghosts of your past to rest, Brother." Serena Khel, ship's counselor and Tovan's almost nine-month pregnant wife, said as she slowly walked up towards them. She then gave her husband a quick kiss before continuing.

"Pending an emergency, we're gonna be here for another week, so while we are here, why don't you take a shuttle or fighter down to the surface? We'll call if something comes up that requires your attention." Rex would have retorted, except for the fact that he was feeling something calling him from the planet, almost like the Force was telling him that he was needing to come to the surface. In fact, he _knew_ that the Force was telling him to go, and as he knew from past experience, it was never a good idea to ignore it when the Force was telling you to do something.

"Alright, ALRIGHT! I'll get going . . . . Last thing I need is you deciding to stun my ass and leaving me stranded on a planet's surface, again." He said, smirking slightly as he saw her blush at the reminder of a time that she got frustrated with him a few years ago, when Rex was working himself to the bone, trying to unite everyone against the Undine, Borg, and the Iconians. "Johnson, tell the hanger to prep my personal Starfighter for launch. Tovan, you have the bridge."

* * *

On the main deck of the ship, Rex stepped out of the turbolift and continued to make his way to the hanger, all the while looking around at the crew that had, at one point, been considered an impossibility, as the extremely diverse crew of the _Shadowblade_ continued to go about their day. A Cardassian could be seen talking to a couple of Bajorans, from the sound of the conversation, about the trio of comets that passed by yesterday, while a Ferenghi was busy showing a Tholian several artifacts that had been found on the surface and was deemed safe to bring up. In the Messhall, a group of Remans, Klingons, Hirogens, and Breen could be heard discussing a nighttime hunting expedition on the surface a few days from now, while a Vulcan and some Orions were discussing another salvaging trip into a few of the ruins on the surface, even as children from multiple species were busy playing with each other on the floor, a Deferi and Voth nearby keeping an eye on them and making sure they stayed safe while playing. Passing the Lounge, Rex could see several couples were there, enjoying the music while relaxing and having dinner with their loved ones. He then had to get out of the way, as a young Human woman, at least 18 years old, was quickly looking for a quiet spot with her boyfriend, another Human teenager. But whereas his girlfriend was normal, he was pale-skinned, and his right eye was covered with an eyepatch, hiding one of the few reminders he had left from his time with the Borg Collective.

Both of them were also orphans that Rex had adopted, Alexa when she was four, and Kaiden, after he was freed from the collective 10 years later. What brought the two of them together was an event that had impressed and shocked the hell out of Rex. Two years ago, Alexa and Kaiden and been left on Helios while been operating in the area, striking at defenseless civilian targets. The only reason they had stayed behind was because the hospital here supposedly developed a procedure that could easily remove the Borg implants that were still inside him, and Alexa joined him for moral support, as well as to finally confess her feelings for him. But the next day, Kaiden, who also had fallen in love with her, but haven't told her as he still felt like a monster because of his past, realized that she was missing, and went looking for her. During his search, he quickly realized that the hospital was, in fact, the slaver base that they had been looking for! He moved even faster at this point, as he realized that Alexa had been captured and was going to end up at a slave market with other slaves. As he continued his search, he came upon a room that would scar him for life: cages, filled with females of every species in the quadrant. And, judging by their condition and expressions on their faces at his arrival, they've suffered the worst crime that could happen to anyone. . . . RAPE! Kaiden's blood was chilled even further when he heard a very familiar scream coming from nearby. Smashing the door down, he became . . . . _**enraged**_ , for lack of a better word, at the sight before him, namely three guys holding Alexa down while a fourth was trying to insert his penis into her forcibly. But, as his rage continued to rise, he felt something, dark, rise up inside himself, begging for release. Instinctively, he raised his arms up, and to his surprise, fired a burst of electricity at them, launching them away from her. Kaiden blasted them again and again, til there was nothing but charred corpses, when two things happened: at the sound of incoming transporters, he spun around, his rage still controlling him and ready to blast whoever was arriving, when Alexa managed to both stop him and calm him down in a very surprising, but pleasant, move, namely, she spun him around and kissed him full on the lips! And that was the scene that Rex saw when he, Worf, and fifteen MACOs finished beaming into the base. After giving her his outer robe that he typically wears over his armor, as well as collecting the two's stories on what happened, Rex came to a startling conclusion. Alexa and Kaiden both were capable of using the Force almost instinctively, as shown when Kaiden used Force Lightning on the rapists, and when Alexa called out for help, which was why Rex was even there to begin with. After that day, the two became Rex's first apprentices in millennia, as well as lovers, as that kiss had sealed the deal with their insecurities.

As Rex reflected on the past, Alexa noticed that he was standing there. "Father! Sorry we almost hit you there, kinda didn't see you there . . . ." She said, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Rex chuckled at the sight. Alexa was the only one who ever called him father, while Kaiden just saw him as a role model, especially after they started learning about the Force. "It's alright, kid. I was just on my way down to the hanger. Listen, I want you two to enjoy yourselves for the next couple of days while I'm on the surface. Lessons may be canceled for now, but I want you two to keep practicing your lightsaber katas, ok? After all, one can never have too much practice. If you guys improve enough, I might consider letting you build your own lightsaber."

Kaiden, at this point in time, was pretty curious as to why Rex was just now going to the surface when they've been here for a few days. It also wasn't often that he would cancel lessons out of the blue like that. "Why are you going to the surface, Master?" "Just some . . . . old business that I need to finish." He replied, right before smirking, "Now, while I'm gone, try, please try, to not make me a grandpa, hmm?" That comment caused both teens to blush heavily, rivaling a red star in hue, "D-dad/M-master!"

* * *

The _Shadowblade_ 's forward hanger opened up, letting Rex's fighter, a prototype Romulan Shrike that he had stolen from Hakeev years ago and heavily modified afterwards, fly out. As soon as he cleared the hanger, though, Rex gunned the impulse drive for all it was worth. The impulse drives allows for all ships to accelerate up to the speed of light, while enabling them to maneuver in ways that most other ships can't. As he flew down to the surface, Rex started thinking about the last time he was on Korriban, during the search for the Star Forge, a massive Space Station that could churn out starships, droids and weapons faster than any other factory, but was heavily influenced by the Dark Side of the Force. But then he immediately stomped on those memories, as they reminded him of his one failure, the only one that he hadn't forgiven himself for. The death of his lover, Bastila Shan, at the hands of his former friend, Malak. Even now, in his nightmares, he could still see Malak's lightsaber burning its way through her chest, after she had put herself between the two opponents after Malak tried to kill him from behind. His scream, no, _**ROAR**_ of anger as Rex blasted his target with a massive storm of Force Lightning, causing him to be thrown away from them. Their final duel, which ended when he took Malak's head clean the fuck off by splitting his double lightsaber into two separate ones, taking the bastard by surprise. Bastila's final words, begging him to not fall again to the Dark Side, and that she was sorry that they couldn't be together like they had planned, before becoming one with the Force, though not before kissing him for the final time.

Again, he shoved the memories away, already feeling the tears falling from his eyes. 'Damn it to the Nine Hells! Why can't I stop thinking about that moment?! Am I doomed to never stop feeling the sting of guilt, of regret?' he thought to himself as he brought his fighter in for a landing. The spot he picked was one that was very familiar to him, on a cliff side, where a series of mausoleums, with giant statues of people built above them, were located. Several pillars, a few having collapsed, could be seen leading up into the mountains. Rex knew that the path would lead to his destination, and started walking in that direction, pausing only to engage the cloak on his fighter, causing it to disappear from view. After about fifteen minutes of walking up the path, he came upon a large, overly rusted, door built into the mountainside. This was the location of the Sith Academy, which he had created during his time as a Sith. With a, shall we say, _EXTREMELY_ liberal use of Force Push to open the doors, Rex walked into the ruins of the old Academy, stopping only once he got to the central chamber. It was here that he decided to meditate, in order to put the ghosts and demons of his past to rest, and to figure out why the Force called him here. He went into the center of the room, while using the Force to clear the debris away, giving him a place to sit. He then got down into a lotus style position, his favorite style for meditating, and got to it, sorting through all of his memories leading up til now.

Rex thought about his past, the destruction of his home and species. His time at the Jedi Temple, learning to become a Jedi. The Mandalorian Wars was next, where he earned his reputation as an expert tactician and a skilled warrior. But then the darker memories came up, starting with the chase, where he and Malak, while hunting down the last few Mandalorian fleets, were captured by the then unknown Sith Empire and forced to the Dark Side by Sith alchemy. The Jedi Civil War, where, as Darth Revan, he almost destroyed the Republic that his people died defending. Then there was the search for the Star Forge, which had ended with the Star Forge's destruction and the deaths of Malak and his lover Bastila, along with his self-imposed exile, which led him to take on the entire Sith Empire alongside Darth Scourge and his last remaining friend from the Order, the Exile. Then there was the time that he ended up helping the Hero of Typhon at the Foundry with the aid of HK-47. His trip between galaxies, accidental that was, thanks in part to a barely functioning Iconian Gate, which only had enough power for one trip. But thanks to that Gate, Rex had ended up meeting those that he would consider friends, then family. People, like Captain Archer of the NX-01 _Enterprise_ , to James T. Kirk and the half-Vulcan Spock. Rex had even considered the crew of the _Enterprise-E_ family, and had mourned when he heard that Data had died saving the ship and crew from the original _Scimitar_ 's thalaron pulse weapon.

The construction of the _Shadowblade_ , which took years as Rex had modified the original design to fit his style and ideas, was a massive undertaking, as it wasn't finished until the Romulan Republic had finally found a new homeworld. The modified designs had called for the ship to be 3-4 times the size of the _Scimitar_ , going from a length of 890 meters to 3560 meters, with a width of 5400 meters and a height of 980 meters. The weaponry, which had started out at 52 dual heavy cannons and 27 torpedo tubes, had jumped in amount as well, by a staggering _factor of 10_ , along with dual plasma beams and anti-proton turrets for anti-air support, meant that the ship, at least in the Milky Way, was an fleet killer. Then there was the formation of Task Force Shadowheart, and all the blood, sweat and tears that he went through, trying to bring everyone together to fight against the Borg, Undine, and especially the mysterious Iconians. Just thinking about the Iconian War brought its own share of nightmares and losses, and they were still recovering from the final battle of the war, where they had lost almost entire fleets worth of ships just trying to buy time for them to deploy their secret weapon to end the war. The last thought to cross his mind, however, was their current mission, which was to investigate any Iconian artifact that was discovered. That had, naturally, led to their current situation. Rex had several theories about how the Iconians powered their technology, but one in particular stood out in his mind, namely that the Iconian race, as a whole, had access to the Force, in the same way that the Rakatan race did, only they took it even further, judging by their appearance during the war and how badly the alliance was behind technologically, than the Rakatan Infinite Empire ever did. Their technology was powered through the use of the Force, and the only reason that the Gate had lost power was that there were no Iconians left at the time to give it more power to sustain itself, and because they disappeared, there also was no one in the Milky Way that could manipulate the Force, so the artifacts there fell into some sort of hibernation state. This theory held more basis in his mind, due to how easily Rex had brought several other artifacts, over the millennia that he lived there, online briefly. Also, because there had been no one around that could use it, the Force had felt much more, _wild_ for lack of a better word, and it took time for him to gain any semblance of control over it, and he didn't gain that control til the war against the Xindians back when the Federation was just coming into being. It was about this time that Rex, before he realized it, started to see a vision of the future, one shrouded in darkness and death.

 ***Vision***

 _ **A Togrutan Jedi, just entering adulthood and recently exiled from the Order, was under attack by bounty hunters. She was then brought in front of a being, cloaked in black and oozing evil. In one vision, she chose death, in another, she became a Dark Jedi. Then another Jedi was shown, almost as powerful in the Force as his lover, fighting on the observation deck of a large ship, in the midst of a battle over Coruscant, fighting against a Dark Jedi, an old man who was a fairly skilled duelist. Then that same Jedi could be seen leading a large army toward the Jedi Temple, where they began to slaughter everyone there, young and old, Master and Padawan, even the younglings weren't spared. And finally, it showed the Sith fighting his former Master on a highly volcanic world, all the while a young woman, pregnant with the Sith's children, was on the ship that she came in on, dying, slowly, of a broken heart.**_

 ***Vision ends***

Rex came out of the vision with a start, with a surprised look on his face that slowly turned into a pensive look, as he began to understand what the Force was telling him. And the worst part of the vision, was that it will come true, all of the images that he saw of the future, unless he got involved and changed things up, make it where this Anakin Skywalker would not follow the same path that he himself fell into, as well as finding this Sith Lord that was manipulating things behind the scenes, this Darth Sidious, and end him, one way or another. As he was getting up to leave though, Rex started to pick up another presence in the Force. As he turned in the direction that the presence was at, he saw two Force Ghosts approaching him. One was a middle-aged human male, calm and confident in his steps. But it was the second one, a young woman, which took his breath away, for she was very, _very_ familiar to him, even as she looked up at him with all the love and longing that he felt for her as well.

"Hello, my love. I've missed you . . . ." His long dead former lover, Bastila Shan, said, slightly amused at the sight of Rex's gaping mouth as it dropped in shock. "We have much to talk about."

* * *

Tovan was currently on his way back to the Bridge, after escorting his wife back to their room to rest, when his commbadge went off. "Go ahead." He said after activating it. "Sir, we're currently picking up a distress signal here in the system. Seems to be coming from a small transport ship." Johnson said over the link, "It sounds bad, Commander." "On my way." Tovan replied, as he started running. As soon as he arrived, he immediately called for a status report. "Sensors show roughly ten to fifteen ships, ranging from fighters to a mid-size transport, attacking a small passenger yacht. Heavy damage has been reported." Hquwa reported. "Cloak has been activated and yellow alert issued throughout the ship." Solana said, even as she engaged the shields. "Rex is quickly returning from the surface, he wants the ship underway immediately." Johnson called out. "Alright, use the transporters and get him back on board. Then get us to that ship, let's try to save them!" "Aye, Commander, activating transporters." "Ship is moving from orbit, prepping for warp!" Shizon called out as he continued to accelerate and maneuver the ship into position for warp. Rex arrived on the bridge just as they cleared the planet and accelerated into full impulse. "Status of the ship?" he asked as he sat down in his chair. "We are ready to go to warp, cloak and shields are on at max power, and weapons are armed and ready. All fighter pilots have reported ready and med-bay is standing by." Tovan reported. He then turned towards Rex, only to see that he seemed . . . . anxious, about something. "What's wrong?" Rex looked at him for a moment, before looking at the viewscreen again. "Just . . . . something I saw in a vision earlier. I'll tell you and the others about it later. Right now, we have a ship to rescue. Go for maximum warp . . . ENGAGE!"

* * *

Further in the system, an YT-1300 freighter was busy trying to evade the swarm of fighters that was trying to shoot it down. The freighter, the _Twilight Runner_ , was owned by a Corellian captain named Zak Nafren, a former soldier turned trader, had been transporting cargo and passengers to Nar Shaddaa when his ship was pulled out of hyperspace and attacked by bounty hunters, led by the infamous Cad Bane, who were looking for Jedi! Of course, one of his passengers, a young female Togrutan adult who was in his med-bay in a coma, was the Jedi that they were after, as he and his first mate rescued her after the Duros bounty hunter and his goons had caught her and were planning on turning her into Separatist hands. Sadly, that wasn't helping his current situation any, as Bane had caught them in a trap and was getting close to capturing them. "Come on baby, hold together, at least long enough to hide in the asteroid belt." He muttered under his breath, all the while wishing, for the umpteenth time, that his ship had weapons to defend itself with. "Captain, shieldsss are down! One more shot and our enginesss are toast!" the first mate, a Trandoshan named Lissark, reported, even as he continued to try to get the shields back up. "Don't bother with the shields, focus all power into the engines, we can ditch them inside the belt!" Even as he said it, Zak had to maneuver the _Twilight Runner_ to dodge several shots from a couple of fighters. It was then that the worst came to pass, as the modified Loronar Strike Cruiser fired its ion cannons and managed to hit the ship, disabling its systems. Zak immediately tried to engage the emergency power, but saw that the ion blast had taken it out as well.

"Sithspit! Sark, go tell the passengers to get into the escape pods, I'll get our young friend out of the med-bay and meet you there." "You got it, Bossss." Lissark ran off to do as ordered, leaving Zak at the helm. But just as he was about to leave himself, Zak thought he saw something move past one of the asteroids that were nearby. 'I could have sworn that there was something there. . . ." he thought as he turned to leave, only for the Escort Carrier, which had been carrying the fighters, to suddenly explode! He turned back around in time to see an extremely unfamiliar ship just, fade he decided, into view, turning far more quickly and gracefully than any ship similar in size that he knew of had any right to. From what he could see, the ship was roughly three kilometers in length and five in width, was colored almost completely black, with green highlights, and it seems to resemble a bird of prey in flight as it hunts for prey to kill, as shown when it breezed past several fighters, firing some kind of energy beam that took out said fighters in one hit, before firing a torpedo at the Strike Cruiser, which somehow bypassed the shields and hit where the power generator was, taking out the ship in a spectacular explosion that finished off the other fighters. But then his heart sank at the sight of the bounty hunters' employers: two _Lucrehulk_ -class battleships, four _Providence_ -class carriers, eight _Recusant_ -class light destroyers, and twelve _Munificent_ -class frigates. A Separatist battle group had just arrived, and Zak didn't think that they would be getting out of this, alive. . .

* * *

"GENERAL! Contact off the starboard side, battle group size!" Cmdr. Worf called out, as Shizon brought the _Shadowblade_ around to see the opposition. "Solana, I need fleet composition! What are we up against?" Rex called out over the Red Alert that was sounding throughout the ship. "Looks like two three kilometer battleships, four one kilometer cruisers, eight one kilometer destroyers, and twelve 852 meter destroyers! And DON'T get me started on the number of fighters!" Solana replied, still in shock over the number of fighters that the enemy fleet was unleashing. "How many?" Rex asked, even as the Force was telling him that this would not be an easy fight. "Hundreds, maybe thousands! It's like all those ships are carrying them!" That worried him. He knew that his pilots were good, the best of the best, but he knew that they would be overwhelmed by the sheer number coming at them. He then turned towards Hquwa and issued his orders, "Load Tricobalt Torpedoes into half of our tubes, Quantum into the rest. We'll use the Tricobalts to thin the fighter screen before launching our own fighters into the fray. Activate primary and secondary shields, this is definitely going to hurt."

"Sir, we are being hailed by one of the lead ships." Johnson said. "What are they saying?" Rex asked, having a pretty good guess. "They are demanding that we surrender in the name of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. They want us to power down all systems and to prepare to be boarded." Rex just snorted when he heard that, finding it funny that they honestly thought that a show of force would be enough to get his crew to surrender, when they had gone up against worst odds before, like when the Iconians attacked Earth. Despite the number of fleets there to defend it, the Allied Fleet was almost destroyed to the ship, with the _Enterprise_ , _Llieset_ , _Bor'qusetu_ , and _Shadowblade_ down, for repairs, for almost a year after the attack due to damage sustained from engaging the Iconian flagship and its escorting battlegroup. "Hmm, let's see. . . Hey, Hquwa. What was the universal signal for 'Fuck You'?" Rex asked, his infamous feral grin making its appearance on his face. Hquwa returned the grin with his own, even as he answered, "Last time I checked, it was a torpedo barrage to the face. Why?" "Because I think it would be rather rude to our hosts if we don't reply, don't you agree? Lock onto all fighters and the frigates and fire all torpedoes, full spread!"

The Separatist fleet was taken by surprise when, instead of surrendering like they thought would happen, the unknown ship fired over _two hundred_ torpedoes of unknown design at them, taking out most of their Droid Starfighters and ten of their _Munificent_ -class frigates, and the other two were heavily damaged from the multiple explosions that went off. What took them by surprise was that their particle shields, which should have stopped some of them, were punched through easily, and those torpedoes were much stronger than their proton torpedoes by several magnitudes! The _Shadowblade_ then took the opportunity to engage its cloak, disappearing from both sight and sensors, and diving straight down, dodging the incoming fire by a long shot and came up under the battlegroup, aiming for the _Lucrehulk_ battleships. Rex then ordered the launch of all fighter squadrons, telling them to focus on harassing the light destroyers and cruisers, while they take out the main threats. "Lock onto one of the battleships and fire all heavy cannons at it, set for Rapid Fire. Solana, see if you can hack into the other one and download all the info you can, we are going to need it later." Rex ordered, even as they fired on the enemy ship, taking it by surprise as they were still cloaked, and dishing out massive damage to it. The other ships tried to fire in their general direction, only for them to get hit rather hard by a swarm of fighters, made up of Scorpions, Wraiths, Phantoms, Corsairs, Peregrines, Web Spinners, Delta Flyers, and To'Duj fighters, that came out of nowhere and scored multiple direct hits on the ships. Once the rest of the battlegroup was occupied, Rex decided that now would be a good time to collect the ship that they came here to rescue. "Worf, take the shuttle and two of the Caitian Stalkers and get the crew and the passengers of the yacht back here, while we keep them busy." "Yes, General." Worf replied before heading to the hanger, even as the first _Lucrehulk_ was left in flames and the second not too far behind.

* * *

Zak's mouth hadn't left the ground the entire time that the mystery ship had proceeded to annihilate the Separatist fleet. He didn't know who designed and/or built her, but she obviously was built to be a ship killer, what with all the cannons and torpedo launchers that had been seen in use, on top of the lasers and turrets that blasted any fighters that had survived the initial torpedo barrage to bits. Then there were the starfighters that were harassing the rest of the fleet. As strange in design as their mothership, the fighters were an even bigger headache for the Separatists, as they were moving at speeds never before seen and easily dodging all anti-fighter fire that the cruisers were throwing up and piercing their shields with their weapons. It was as the unknown blasted the two heavily damaged _Munificents_ to pieces that he saw three smallcraft approaching his ship. At a further glance, Zak saw what appeared to be a shuttle, colored green and just as strange in design as the mothership that it and its escorts came from. And its escorting fighters, shaped like a delta and colored almost midnight black, pulled away as the shuttle came to a stop just above his ship, and took positions about two hundred meters away and facing towards the battle. Then he heard a voice coming from his comm system.

"Passenger yacht, this is LtCmdr. Worf of the RRW _Shadowblade_. We are here to evacuate your passengers and your crew."

Zak pushed the button to his comm and cleared his voice, "LtCmdr, this is Zak Nafren, captain of the _Twilight Runner_. As much as I would appreciate the lift, I'm not leaving my ship behind for these bastards to use."

There was what sounded like a sigh, before the LtCmdr spoke up, this time sounding slightly irritated, "Captain, I ain't got the time to argue. Our sensors are picking up five separate battlegroups of roughly the same size as this one on approach, and the General doesn't want to be here when they arrive. So either you come willingly, or I'll come over there, stun everybody, and drag your ass onto this shuttle personally, your choice."

To Zak, there wasn't a choice at all, he needed his ship to make a living and couldn't afford to lose it, but he also wasn't about to gamble his passengers lives. "You can take the passengers, their safety is my main concern, but I'm not leaving my ship."

Before the argument could heat up and get interesting, another voice cut in, this one sounded like it commanded respect through personal experience and example. "Captain, this is General Resede, of the _Shadowblade_. I understand why you don't want to leave your ship, so how about this: Worf will take all of the passengers onto his shuttle, then he'll tow your ship into our hanger, where we can repair your ship for no charge. Deal?"

"Deal." Zak replied, as he turned to go let Sark know what was happening. Twenty minutes later, once all of the civilians and the unconscious Jedi was on the shuttle, the shuttle pulled in front of the _Twilight Runner_ before activating its tractor beam, catching Zak by surprise as he didn't know how the shuttle could power itself enough to include a tractor beam, and towed them back to the _Shadowblade_ 's hanger, as all of the fighters were returning to the ship as well in preparation for jumping to Warp. As they entered the hanger, Zak and Sark watched with interest as they passed through a forcefield and a new set of tractor beams grabbed their ship and moved it to an empty spot in the middle of the large hanger. As engineers and medical personnel ran to them, Zak turned toward his first mate to issue his orders."Sark, stay with the ship and help with repairs. I'll join you once I'm done meeting our host and checking on our young friend."

"You got it, Bossss." Sark said, as he got up to meet with the engineering team. Zak then headed over to the shuttle, both to reassure his clients and to check on the young Jedi that he rescued, and watched as the medics were checking everyone for any injuries using some kind of handheld device. He then saw that several medics were moving the young Togrutan Jedi onto a stretcher. "Hey, how is she?" he asked the human-looking being in front of him, though he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, especially with the spots that ran down the sides and back of her neck, and wondered just how far _down_ those spots ran.

"I'm having her brought up to our med-bay, where I can treat her injuries much easier than right here. She seems to be in a healing trance of some kind, one that is pretty damn deep, which means I might need some help bringing her out of it." the doctor said, all the while telling her medical personnel to take her to the med-bay. "Do you know her name, by any chance?"

Zak nodded before answering, "Yeah, her name is Ahsoka Tano."

 **Here's the first chapter of my story for everyone's enjoyment. It took longer than I liked to finish the battle scene, and I'm still not sure about it. I'll try to get the next chapter out before the end of January, so fingers crossed!**

 **AN#2-I've just edited this chapter in an attempt to make it flow better, in terms of scene changes, so don't review if you've done so already.**

 _ **Review, or I'll shove my gold-plated double bladed lightsaber where the sun don't shine!**_


	3. Chapter 2 First Contact

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Star Trek. If I did, I'd be soaring through space myself.**_

Chap 2: First Contact

After Ahsoka was taken to the med-bay, Zak found himself being escorted through the ship, to a meeting with the mysterious General Resede by a pale-skinned young man with an eyepatch over his right eye. From what little he managed to get, Kaiden was a Cadet aboard this ship as part of a program of some kind that gives him some hands-on experience on commanding a ship, as well as all of the jobs that are required for running and maintaining a ship.

Zak also found that he couldn't help but look around at all the new species that he had never before seen now seen serving onboard this equally mysterious warship. There were human-like beings with blue skin and antennae on their heads, cat-like individuals covered in varying colored furs and tails, several reptilian species ranging from skinny to heavily muscular. A humanoid walked by, larger than Zak, who was 6' tall himself, who had some ridges on his forehead and was a deep brown color, followed by a great many others that he didn't have time to identify.

The technology in use around him was also very different from what he was used to, but he didn't have nearly as much time as he would have liked to inspect it more closely. But from what little he could see as they progressed through the ship, some of it was more advanced than anything ever seen before in the Republic. Never mind the fact the ship itself was a complete unknown in and of itself. A warship fully capable of cloaking itself without blinding its own sensors? Both the Republic and Confederation of Independent Systems would kill for that kind of advantage in their little war!

The last thing about these people that rescued him and his passengers, was that there were entire families on this ship, civilians that had no business being on a warship. Yet everywhere Zak looked, he saw children running around playing, or sitting and listening to a teacher in a classroom setting. He saw teenagers, who weren't in a uniform of some kind, talking and flirting with each other, sometimes with the opposite sex being from different species. It was unlike anything he had seen or heard of before in his life, as he could never believe that anything like this was possible.

'Never thought I would be in a First Contact situation, especially since there hasn't been one in millennia in the Republic, and definitely not like this! But, there's something about this ship and her crew, like this isn't the first time they've been in this situation. . .' he thought to himself, as he continued to his destination on the ship.

Finally, they arrived at what looked like a conference room for diplomatic meetings. "The General is inside, he'll see you now." Kaiden said, opening the door and letting him in. Once inside, Zak immediately saw some very familiar technology in use, as the figure in front of him was talking to four other individuals via holocomm.

". . . and we are now on our way back to Korriban, where we will stay for a few days to ensure that we weren't followed, before heading back to the Gate." He said, apparently finishing up a report from earlier.

"Understood General, but was it really necessary to destroy so many ships?" the being on the far left, who was a human with a strange, mechanical implant covering part of his face, including his left eye, as well as brown hair, and a sky-blue right eye, wearing a red uniform of unique design with a chevron on the left side of his chest, asked.

"Until I can contact the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and let the Jedi High Council know that I'm back, secrecy is the name of the game. It is also for that same reason that I didn't call for back-up from General Martok, for it's easier for us all if only one ship of unknown design, in this case being mine, was seen, if at all." General Resede, as Zak came to realize, replied, gesturing towards General Martok, a large, brown-skinned, brow-ridged humanoid whose attire was that of a mighty warrior, with a chain shirt, spiked paudrons on his shoulders, metallic sash crossing from his left shoulder to his right hip, and a large fur cloak. On his right breast, a strangely design triangle, seemingly made of three similar wavy lines, could also be seen.

"As it is, research into the Gate has proven some of your theories, old friend. The Iconians were capable of wielding the Force to an extent, at least enough to use their technology. They also apparently were at war with the Rakatan Infinite Empire, and built this particular Gateway in secret, in order to launch what would have been a successful surprise attack on them." The being to the right of Martok, a female humanoid with pointed ears, long black hair, jade eyes, and a yellow-greenish hue to her skin, said, looking at a data pad for said info. She was wearing a blue outfit, similar in design to the human's uniform, with a brown trench coat and a sash over it, a metallic raptor of some kind in plain sight on the sash itself.

"But the attack was never launched, due in large part to the slave revolt that happened in both of the Empires, according to both what you told us about the Rakatans, as well as our own extensive research into the Iconians. And so the Gate fell into disuse, only to be discovered by you, millennia later." The last being, Zak being hard-pressed as to even guess at its gender, said. It was humanoid as well, with a flat nose, blond hair, gray eyes, and was wearing robes of some sort.

"True, though I think that there is more going on around here in my home galaxy than I previously thought, but I'll get back to you on that later when we regroup. For now, I need to take care of my guest here." With that, he shut down the holocomms, then turned toward Zak, finally showing what he looked like to him. At 6'11", he was a reptilian, though not like any he had seen on the ship. His facial features showed his predatory nature with a series of scars, the most prominent being a large white scar going vertically across his right eye, large teeth showing through his lips on a slightly elongated snout, and slitted pupils surrounded by silver irises.

Scales covered his body like armor, while his hands could be seen as to having a set of claws, roughly an inch in length. A tail, about three to four feet in length, was swishing side to side behind him, with both of his feet have three toes each, their structure showing that he couldn't wear boots if he tried. His clothes, however, caught Zak's attention the most, as it was armor of a design not seen outside of one of the many museums on Coruscant, from the days of the Jedi Civil War, 4000 years ago, but looked like it had been updated with new materials.

"Zak Nafren? Welcome aboard the Romulan Republic Warbird _**Shadowblade**_. I'm Rex Resede." Zak shook his hand, noting the exceptionally strong grip. "Thank you, and thanks for saving my passengers and ship from the bounty hunters and the CIS."

"CIS?" Rex asked, looking confused, as he hadn't gotten an opportunity to look through the data that they had taken from the ships they had destroyed.

That threw Zak for a moment, before he remembered certain details of the conversation he overheard, and suspected that Rex let him listen to, in order to clear out some unneeded questions. "Stands for the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Banking Clans, the Trade Federation, and other such factions are waging a war against the Republic in what is currently being called the Clone Wars."

* * *

Rex, after five hours of conversation with Zak, was walking through the ship, contemplating what he had learned about his home's current state of affairs. He was also thinking about Bastila's warning, about how the Jedi Order was in danger of being wiped out by the Sith. Rex had a suspicion that the clones that the Jedi were relying on were the key to the whole issue, he just didn't know how they tied together. And finally, young Anakin Skywalker, the Hero without Fear, was the Jedi that he saw in his vision, the one who joined the Sith, in order to save his wife.

* **Flashback** *

"So the Jedi Council refused to believe that the Sith was still around til after you died on Naboo at the hands of the apprentice. Then they didn't bother to investigate it properly afterwards, giving this Darth Sideous a chance to continue his plans, more than likely involving the boy, Anakin. Now they are fighting a war for the Republic, which was orchestrated by said Sith and his new apprentice, Darth Tyrannis, resulting in Jedi being killed, turning to the Dark Side, or in Anakin's Padawan's case, exiled from the Order, which usually results in one of the first two points happening anyway. That about cover it?" Rex questioned the male Force Ghost, Qui-Gon Jinn, in frustration.

"Yes, that's it. Why?" he asked, curious about how Revan would react. He found out real quick when Rex exploded in anger. " **THEN WHY IN THE NINE GODSDAMN BLOODY HELLS OF DINOSAURIA SHOULD I HELP THEM?!** I mean, this is **WHY** I went to war in the first place, because the Jedi are too fixated in their ways to realize that change, sometimes, is necessary!"

Bastila then came up and, to Qui-Gon's utter amazement, managed to calm the Saurian down, simply by placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know why you need to help, Revan. It is for the same reason that you helped your new family back in their home galaxy for hundreds of years: because you believe that they can become better than what they are."

"Saw that, huh?" Rex asked, not at all surprised that she knew of his time with the Federation, Romulan Republic and Klingon Empire. "Yea, including you basically adopting Alexa and later teaching her and Kaiden about the Force. Though did you really need to showboat and take on all those Borg by yourself?" She asked, not at all amused about that incident. Rex at least had the decency to be embarrassed about it. "H-hey, give me a break! My ship was still trying to get rid of the Tactical Cube in orbit, which meant that I had no back-up coming for a while. Besides, they just gave me the excuse and opportunity to actually get a decent workout!"

* **Flashback Ends** *

Rex then realized that he had arrived at his destination, namely the medical wing of his ship. He was there to check on the young Jedi from his vision, Ahsoka Tano. According to Jazia, she had managed to somehow, with no prior training, put herself into a healing trance using the Force after being attacked by bounty hunters and rescued by the crew of the Twilight Runner. But because she didn't know what she was doing, she had basically made it too deep and now needed help coming out of it. Something else that made his blood boil with anger, as this war was forcing the Jedi into sending more and more inexperienced Padawans into the battlefront, with barely any time to properly train them in what they needed to know. Not to mention promoting them to Jedi Knights before they were ready . . . just like during the Mandalorian Wars, after he and Alek defied the Council's wishes and joined the war.

Shaking the thoughts out of himself, Rex entered the med-bay and almost immediately spotted Jazia, who was currently studying some medical charts that he guessed were for Ahsoka. "So how's our patient, Doc?"

Jazia looked up from the charts at the sound of Rex's voice, and replied, "Physically, she's fine. Her wounds are fully healed and there are no signs of any other injuries. Mentally, now that's the question. From what you explained to me once, a skilled practitioner of the healing arts can heal critically injured individuals, including themselves if necessary, by inducing a type of coma, one that lasts only long enough to stabilize the patient." She then started walking toward one of the med-units that were in the room, Rex following close behind, reading some of the reports she had written up.

Jazia then stopped at one of the occupied units before speaking again. "Ms. Tano, however, had no such training, and while she got lucky and successfully put herself under, she didn't have the skill or knowledge needed to pull herself out of it. And as much of a prodigy Alexa is in healing, I think we can both agree that she doesn't quite have the experience needed, yet, to bring Ahsoka out, which leaves only one other person on this ship with _any_ idea of what the hell he's doing."

"Namely, me. Great. I'm going to have to do it, and healing wasn't something that I practiced extensively. How lovely. . ." Rex said, voice heavy in sarcasm. Still, he was the only one in the area with a chance at bringing her out of it, so he moved closer to her med-unit. When he got there, though, he couldn't stop himself from staring at her. The time she served in the war, before her exile, had matured and toned her body in ways that most Jedi never achieve in twice the time, showing no trace of excess body fat anywhere. Her monstrels were fully formed, denoting that she was an adult in Togrutan eyes, but Rex's keen eyes could tell that she fell upon hard times, as she was thinner than she should be at, all thanks to hunger. One thought that was stuck in his mind though, even as he prepared to bring her out of the coma, was how beautiful she looked, even in slumber. . . .

* * *

On Coruscant, at the Jedi Temple, home of the Jedi Order, the Grandmaster of the Order, Yoda, could be seen meditating. He was trying to figure out this disturbance in the Force that the entire Council had picked up on a few weeks back, one that had confounded them as it was very powerful, yet perfectly balanced in the Force, neither Light nor Dark, yet both at the same time. Yoda managed to narrow the search area to the Outer Rim Territories, before it suddenly disappeared, almost as if it cloaked itself from the Force. But this disappearance was very recent, coinciding with a report from a Republic Patrol fleet that had discovered the remains of a Separatist Battle Group.

From what evidence could be gathered at the sight, showed that the ships were all destroyed by weapons of as unknown nature. They also found several ships that belonged to bounty hunters working with Cad Bane, an infamous Duros bounty hunter who was rumored to be in the area, but his ship wasn't found among the wreckage or debris, which meant that the Separatists, and by default the Sith, now knew who or what destroyed their fleet while the Republic was stumbling in dark. For now, however, he was going to have to hope that whoever attacked those ships was friendly to the Republic, for Yoda didn't know if they could handle more enemies attacking them, especially if the CIS somehow got to them first.

It was then that one of his fellow Council members, Jedi Master Shaak Ti, came in. "Master Yoda, we received word from Kamino. Obi-Wan reports that Anakin's attempt to slow down General Grevious's fleet has failed, and that he will attack Kamino in three days. They're requesting reinforcements." This brought Yoda out of his inner thoughts, and, after coming to a decision, he started to get up. Turning to Shaak Ti, he replied to her unanswered question. "Then to Kamino, go we will." She then bowed and said, "Then I'll gather what Knights I can and meet you in orbit." She then turned and left, her thoughts going in a direction that she hadn't thought about in years: those of her daughter, born in secret in order to protect both her and her father from Shaak Ti's enemies. Only one other person knew about her daughter, as he had been there the day she was born, and he died in the Naboo incident.

After she left, Yoda left the room in a different direction, going to his private chambers to collect his lightsaber. But as he entered his room, Yoda felt a familiar presence behind him. Turning, he saw an old friend, Qui-Gon Jinn. "Qui-Gon, good to see you, it is." He said, smiling. "It's good to see you too, Master Yoda." Qui-Gon said, bowing before the venerable master of the Order, before continuing what he came here to do. "I bring news that I believe you need to hear. It concerns the disturbance in the Force that you and the others have no doubt sensed recently."

That caught the old Grandmaster's attention, as evident by the fact that he froze right before touching his saber. Once he saw that he had Yoda's complete attention, Qui-Gon continued speaking, "The disturbance is from a Jedi, who disappeared after the incident with the Sith Empire about 3600 years ago, roughly a year or two after the death of the Sith Emperor. He found a gateway to another galaxy near our own, where, until recently, he lived, dealing with his demons from the wars that he's been in, one of which damaged his soul badly. It is his destiny to help the Chosen One with his path, but even he could fail, unless he comes to terms with the worst of his demons, the one that he fully believes is entirely his fault."

"Which is it, I wonder, hmm?" Yoda asked, looking up and seeing a sight that almost threw him for a loop, as he never expected it to appear on this man's face: sorrow and pity, both in equal measures. "The fact that the man he once called brother, killed the woman he loved as she protected him from a fatal blow with the Sith's lightsaber, all because he made the decision to become a Sith himself to prepare the Republic for the Sith Empire. She died because he chose to spare his former brother-in-arms, and giving him a chance to heal his injuries instead of killing him outright. That, he believes, is his sin."

* * *

Elsewhere on Coruscant, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Palpatine, otherwise known as Darth Sidious, was also contemplating the report he had received concerning the destroyed Separatist ships. He was currently waiting on a report from his apprentice, Count Dooku, on both the upcoming assault on Kamino, and the failed attempt to capture Anakin's former Padawan.

According to initial reports, the battle group had arrived at the location that the bounty hunter, Cad Bane, had said that he would meet them at with the captured Ahsoka Tano, only to find a mysterious ship of unknown design there, wiping out the bounty hunters that were there. The colonel in charge of the group had told Dooku that they had the situation under control, as there was only one ship there, and to not send reinforcements.

The Sith Lord snorted under his breath in contempt. Apparently, the dead fool had underestimated the unknown craft, considering the debris from two _Lucrehulks_ , four _Providences_ , eight _Recusants_ , and twelve _Munificents_ , along with over eight thousand droid fighters. And if it weren't for young Tano and her now-dead group of resistance fighters, Palpatine's plans for Anakin Skywalker would have already been played, instead of being delayed by another two years.

But now they were dead and Ahsoka would be in his grasp now, had she and the captain who rescued her not suddenly disappeared, and he had a feeling that the one responsible was that damn ship that also disappeared. It was then that he noticed Count Dooku had arrived, with the Duros Cad Bane in tow. They both knelt before him, awaiting his acknowledgement. "My Lord. . ."

"Rise. Now, my apprentice, how goes the preparations for the invasion of Kamino?" he asked, turning in their direction.

"Despite young Skywalker's attempt to stall for time, our fleet will hit in three days' time. We gathered more ships and are now strong enough to capture and hold the planet, even if the Republic sends reinforcements, they would be no match for the fleet's combined firepower, especially with our new flagship." Dooku reported, before turning toward Bane. "It is this unknown ship that successfully rescued Tano that has my interest, as Bane here has never seen such a ship before, or the type of weaponry it had demonstrated in using. It was also apparently much faster and more maneuverable than any ship of that size should be."

Palpatine then faced the Duros before asking, "Then how did you escape the slaughter, when so many others didn't?"

"By sheer luck, Lord Sidious. When my ship was hit, it was by a glancing blow that instead disabled my ship's power supply. I would have been killed myself, had the Separatist battle group not arrived when it did. During the battle, if you want to even call it that, my ship drifted into the asteroid field, where I proceeded to make the necessary repairs to my ship, as well as record the battle. I figured that you would want to at least see what the ship looked like, so I brought it with me." Bane replied, handing over the data disc. "Now, if you don't mind, I have business elsewhere, so I'll just take my leave, after I get my usual fee for this info."

* * *

Back on the _**Shadowblade**_ , former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano let out a small groan as she started to stir. As she opened her eyes, Ahsoka began to take in her surroundings. Both familiar and unfamiliar technology could be seen, as well as sentient species she had never seen before in her life walking around in strange uniforms, of multiple designs, that were all tinted a blueish color. In fact, the only species that she could readily identify was Humans! Looking around, she figured that she was in a hospital or Med-bay of some kind, but as usual, hospitals were not her thing, so she decided that it was time to where exactly she was at, and so, using the Force to deaden everyone's senses, Ahsoka began to sneak out of the room, totally unaware that one of the sentients, well known back home for their unique physiology, was completely immune to the mind-altering effects and was watching as she left. Dr. Jazia Dax then activated her commbadge to let her intern know about Ahsoka being up and about.

Later, after finding out that she was on a ship of a design never before seen anywhere in the Republic, as well as locating what looked like an area map of the entire ship, she found herself walking toward what should be the hanger for the ship, replaying everything she had learned from various conversations that she overheard. This ship, and its crew, were from a completely different galaxy, far away from here, and had arrived here, alongside a fair sized fleet, through an artifact that allowed for almost instantaneous travel between galaxies, something she thought could only be done through the use of the near-mythical Hypergates. These 'Iconian Gateways', she discovered, were built by an ancient race that had once enslaved their galaxy, and was apparently at war with the Rakatan Infinite Empire that had once ruled the Republic, before its beginning.

Also, she learned that most, if not all of them, were peaceful explorers, who were very interested in meeting any and all new civilizations. They were also the ones responsible for rescuing her and the _**Twilight**_ 's crew from the bounty hunters and, to her shock, a Separatist battle group. Yet, despite the fact that this ship apparently had enough firepower to take on a battle group by itself, was nowhere near as shocking as what Ahsoka had been feeling through the Force; namely the fact that there was a Jedi Master and at _least_ two Jedi Knights on board this very ship! She had easily detected their presence as she got closer to the hanger, but what intrigued her was how perfectly balanced they felt in the Force, neither light nor dark, yet somehow both at the same time, like they had discovered a way to control the Dark Side, without falling for its temptations.

Soon, she found her way to the hanger, where she saw a fairly large crowd of the ship's crew had cleared a small part of the area and were currently forming a circle using boxes and crates that were there. Deciding that she needed a better view, Ahsoka leapt up onto one of the walkways that crisscrossed the upper levels of the hanger. Once she was up there, she looked back down in time to see a humanoid, brown-skinned, large in stature, with some really distinctive ridges on his forehead, and some kind of lizard had stepped into the ring, facing each other. Then a green-skinned humanoid stepped into the ring, stopping between the two.

"Today, in the Battle Circle, we have LtCmdr. Worf of the Klingon Empire, who shall face General Resede of the Jedi Order. General! You have the most honor! What are your conditions?"

"Hand to hand combat, no weapons or items. Maybe you'll actually beat me this time, eh, Alex?" General Resede replied, looking in amusement at his Klingon friend, who apparently thought that jab was a little below the belt, considering his response, "Oh, really? At least I've been hitting the gym lately. Where were you? Oh yeah, stuck on the bridge doing nothing! So I'd say that I have a better chance than you apparently believe, old friend."

As the two moved to the opposite sides of each other, Ahsoka couldn't help but stare at General Resede who, she realized, was the Jedi Master that she had been sensing since she woke up! She also couldn't help but blush at the sight of his muscles when he threw off his cloak, revealing an extremely tight muscle shirt underneath, as well as one hell of an eight-pack. As she continued inspecting him, she saw that, unlike most reptile species in the galaxy, he had a tail, roughly 3-4 feet long, and he appeared to have some control over it, as evident when he used it to throw his cloak into the crowd.

"Combatants ready . . . ? FIGHT!" At the green man's signal, the two opponents charged each other, only to meet in the middle in a clash, swinging their fists at the other's faces only for their opponent managing to block the blow and attempt to counter. Ahsoka watched as the combatants continued attacking each other, trying to find a weakness in the other's defense, even as they fought in an acrobatic display that would have put most Knights she knew to shame. Left, right, high, low. Head shot, followed by a gut shot, they threw combinations at each other, only to have it foiled by a well-placed block that left one open for a swift uppercut, except that it was a deliberate attempt to cause an opening for a lightning fast right hook, both of which connected and knocked down. Then they almost immediately leapt back up and launched a roundhouse kick, that intercepted the other's kick, then they were back at each other's throat, trying something new that might win them the match.

But, as Ahsoka was watching the match, she didn't see that two members of the crowd had come up behind her in perfect silence. Then one of them leaned in close to her ear and spoke up, causing her to jump up in surprise, "Just to let you know, Dr. Dax _really_ doesn't like it when people leave her hospital before she clears them. She tends to, to put it as nicely as possible, wack them upside the head and drag them back, before drugging them for a week. If you don't believe me, just ask my father. He hates it when Aunt Jazia drugs him for his annual physicals." The human girl said, giggling slightly at how the Jedi had jumped when she had suddenly spoke up.

"Alex, love, I don't think that scaring the only other fully trained Jedi on board would be productive to our training, much less our continuing health." The other, a pale-skinned human male wearing an eyepatch over his right eye, remarked, though Ahsoka could tell that he was trying not to laugh at her near heart attack.

"By the way, my name is Kaiden, Kaiden Alenko. And this is my beautiful girlfriend, Alexandra Shepherd Resede, or Alexa to her friends. And yes, she's Master Resede's adopted daughter." Kaiden added, having caught the surprised look on Ahsoka's face at Alexa's surname.

"Ahsoka Tano, and what do you mean, adopted daughter?" She asked, filing away what he said about dating Alexa for later.

"He adopted me after . . . after I lost my family. It's not something I like thinking about. He's also been teaching both me and Kaiden about the Force, which is a lot, considering he's over four thousand years old." Alexa replied, causing another surprised look to appear on her face.

"FO . . . FOUR THOUSAND!? Then he was alive during the . . ." "The Mandalorian and Jedi Civil Wars, neither of which he likes talking about, trust us on that one. But yeah, as a Saurian, unless he's killed in battle, he can basically be considered an Immortal. And I honestly can't see him dying in battle, as no one has come close to matching him in swordsmanship." Kaiden said, knowing that the only way Ahsoka would ever find out that Rex was _the_ Revan, was if he told her himself. And that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon, as he absolutely hated that part of his past.

Alexa, on the other hand, suspected that Ahsoka may be the one who could fully heal her father's shattered heart, as Rex had not been himself the last couple of days, ever since he helped bring the Jedi Knight out of her coma. He would zone out during their training, allowing them to catch him off guard more often than usual, he had also been spending time in medical, just sitting there watching her as she slept. And there was last night, where she could swear up and down that Rex had said Miss Tano's name in his sleep. Now that she was thinking about it, Alexa thought she saw something in Ahsoka's eyes, the same something that she herself had in Kaiden's eyes, from the days before their first kiss. And that got her thinking.

Kaiden was the only one who saw the gears moving inside her head, and using the Force in a manner that was so subtle, that Ahsoka, who was right next to him, never felt him reaching out to Alexa. ' _Sweetheart, what are you thinking?_ '

She looked at him, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes perfectly obvious. ' _Dad has been living without someone to love for millennia, and yet, in the last couple of days, he hasn't been able to get Ahsoka out of his head, and I think Ahsoka, whether she knows it or not, is falling for him. Hell, she hasn't been able to stop staring at him for the last five minutes alone, let alone before we introduced ourselves._ '

Kaiden looked at Ahsoka, noticing for the first time how her gaze never left his Master, even as he finally managed to pin Alexander to the ground til he surrendered, ending the match. ' _Playing matchmaker?_ ' he asked, already knowing the answer.

' _Yep. You game?_ ' Alexa replied, also knowing what he'll say next. ' _Yeah. But first, let's get her back to medical, before Jazia murders us in our sleep!_ '

* * *

Rex, after helping his Klingon friend get back on his feet, left the hanger, heading first to his quarters to shower before returning to the bridge. He had known that Ahsoka had been on the catwalk above the battle circle, watching the match between himself and the LtCmdr, and that left him with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was glad that she was up and about, and that she had apparently become friends with his daughter and his apprentice, as they would help her out with what he knew would be hundreds of questions about their group. On the other hand, however, his love for Bastila was now coming into conflict with (dare he say it) his burgeoning feelings for the Togrutan Jedi, and he had no idea on what to do about it.

The best part about it all, was that it was starting to piss him off, hence the battle circle today, as sparring always helped clear his mind, making it easier to think on some matters. Matters that struck very close to home for him, as it concerns the Saurians' view on the subject of soulmates. Arriving at his room, Rex headed into the bathroom, shedding his clothes off and hopping into the shower.

Underneath the water, his thoughts turned back toward the subject of soulmates. To Saurians, their soulmates, when found, was everything to them. They would gladly give anything, their very lives even, to protect their better half and ensure their happiness. But as the Saurian race were immortal, and more often than not, with their soulmates sometimes one of the 'younger', or mortal, races, they would out-live their partners, if not for an ancient Force technique that they had created for just one purpose: when properly used, and with their soulmate's consent, the technique sever both the Saurian and his mate's own souls in half. Then, taking each piece, the Force would heal them, allowing the two lovers to truly become one, and the soulmate would be just as immortal as his or her Saurian lover.

The only downside to the technique was that it could only be performed once in the Saurian's lifetime, as the consequences of doing it more than once had been determined to be so horrendous, that any Saurian who had been caught attempting to do so would be exiled from Dinosauria for all time, and his or her name stricken from all records, to the point of them having never existed at all. Getting out of the shower, he put on a fresh uniform and left for the bridge, even as his thoughts turned toward an earlier time, when he had been thinking of offering Bastila the honor of joining her soul to his.

But then Malak had attacked, forcing her to sacrifice her safety to stall him, trying to buy time for himself and the others to escape. Then, later, she had fallen into the Dark Side, pitting the two star-crossed lovers against each other, all the way til their battle on the Star Forge, where, by leaving himself wide open as he couldn't bring himself to kill her, she instead threw away her own lightsaber, and rejoined the Jedi, only to die later against Malak, all because Rex couldn't kill his brother-in-arms. That dream had died with her, but now he suspected that the Force, and maybe her as well, had given her a second chance at that dream, at a life outside of the constant fighting that he had known for damn near his entire life.

And yet, he found himself hesitating in his decision, for one simple reason, one he found himself having a hard time admitting to: that he was scared of losing Ahsoka the way he lost Bastila, and that vision he had earlier sure as hell wasn't helping at all. So, for now, he settled for burying his feelings for her as deep inside himself as he could, even as he stepped onto the bridge and settled into his chair. "Report."

Tovan turned to face him, ready to give his report to his friend, "General, we are about to enter the nebula, ETA one hour. We should encounter one of the patrols, which will escort us through the outer defenses that we set up throughout the area to the rest of the task force. After receiving our earlier report, General Martok and Admiral T'sair sent out several groups of scout ships to keep an eye out for the CIS. Admiral Williamson reports that the engineers are ready to attempt to re-activate the Gate on our side, all ships have been ordered to pull back to maximum safe distance for the test."

"Excellent. As soon as we can safely activate the Gateway, make sure to send all our reports to Alliance High Command, also send a request for more ships, I have a feeling that we'll be needing them sooner than I want." He said, that gut feeling of his telling him that trouble was on the horizon, slowly creeping up on him. And, as he learned a long time ago, Rex always listened to his gut instincts. Then he thought of something else, "Also, tell Jazia that when she is finished with her examinations, to have Ahsoka brought up to the bridge. I think she'll want to see our home away from home."

 **Author's Notes**

 **I have absolutely no excuses for why it took so long for this chapter. Between college and job hunting, I should have had it finished a long time ago. I can only hope that my loyal readers will forgive me, and leave me plenty of reviews to encourage me to write faster!**


	4. Chapter 3 Task Force Shadowheart

**Disclaimer: Do not own Star Wars or Star Trek. Skyriver Galaxy belongs to Lord Maximus.**

 **Ch. 3**

 **Task Force Shadowheart**

Zak, after being shown his temporary quarters by an ensign, was busy perusing the ship databanks for the histories of all the factions that were here on the ship. And what he had found, straight up amazed him.

' _They were at war with each other over the course of centuries, millennia for some, and yet, they came together to fight for their freedom and survival against these 'Iconians'. They put aside their differences and hatred for each other and fought back against a common foe, something that the Republic can't seem to figure out in this war._ ' He found himself thinking as he read about the Alliance's most recent and devastating conflict, one that led to its creation.

And the one who led the charge, was the exact same General who rescued his ship and passengers from the bounty hunters and Separatist fleet. Apparently, Rex had been an ally of Starfleet since its conception, befriending many of the famous captains, most of whom were in charge of the _**Enterprise**_. And after the Borg attack on the Vega colony, where he rescued his adopted daughter Alexa, he had been in the spotlight alongside then-Lieutenant Williamson of Starfleet, Sergeant Martok of the Klingon Empire, and Centurion Khel, fighting together against the Borg, Cardassians, the Dominion, and Undine, before learning that it was the Iconians who were the true threat.

Then, they worked together to try and get the various fleets to work as one and fight back after the Iconian Empire launched their attack. For six months, the newly formed Alliance, not even official yet, fought a losing battle against them. The final battle alone almost resulted in the complete destruction of the Alliance, if not for Rex's efforts to discover why the Iconians were the way they were. And, as it turned out, it was one hell of a discovery, but one that Rex and the others, after handing over something called a 'World Heart', had apparently agreed to keep as a secret. The Iconians then left for Iconia, in order to rebuild their civilization, ending the war.

It was after the war that Task Force Shadowheart was formed, with its mission being to investigate any and all Iconian technology, as well as exploring beyond the Gateways. Hence, why they were here in the Skyriver Galaxy, as they had reactivated the Gateway on their end that the Saurian had arrived through, only to find out that Skyriver's Gate had shut down after their arrival due to an overload of power in the ancient systems, effectively trapping them here. The only thing that Zak couldn't find was the location of the artifact, due to some kind of high security system that was blocking it.

Another detail that he discovered, was that the Alliance had something called the 'Prime Directive', a law that states rather specifically that no contact was allowed with any civilization that had not developed some form of FTL travel. It originally was limited only to something called 'Warp Drive' as it was believed that one could only travel faster than light with one, but was changed when Rex had demonstrated the Hyper Drive to the Federation. That, and other such tech from here, was currently being put into use even now, as well as improved on, such as personal shielding, body armor, and blasters for ground combat, something that only the Klingon Empire and the Dominion had any experience in.

Zak soon found himself thinking about what it would be like to travel to and explore the Milky Way galaxy, in the same way that this Alliance was doing here. ' _To explore new civilizations, simply for the sake of learning, must be pretty fun to do. Wonder if I'll get a chance to do the same?'_

He then decided to go and talk to the general, if only to see if there were any openings to join them in their explorations.

* * *

"Normally, I would smack you upside the head, then drug your ass til you were literally talking to pink elephants so that you couldn't get out of the bed, much less my med-bay. However, if you were anything like that damn lizard, it wouldn't keep you down long, thanks to that thrice-damn field you call the Force." Dr. Jazia Dax, Chief Medical Officer of the R.R.W. _**Shadowblade**_ , said, while conducting her final check-up on Ahsoka Tano's health. "Also, for future reference, my species, the Trill, thanks to our symbiotic relationship with our symbionts, are completely immune to all mind-affecting effects of the Force. So no tricking me into thinking that you don't exist."

Ahsoka blushed at that detail, as she had thought that she had affected everyone in the med-bay. She then continued what she had been doing since she returned to the medical wing, which was observing the doctors as they were working with their various patients. She watched as Dr. Dax scanned her with a device that she called a 'tricorder', studying her vitals for anything out of the ordinary. Ahsoka also found herself watching as Alexa was performing a medical check-up of her own, apparently as part of her individual Jedi training she was required to work here for several hours a day in order to learn how to be a medical officer, as she used the Force to heal one of the many children aboard the ship, who had scrapped his knee rough-housing with one of the others.

To her utter amazement, Alexa, without even looking up, used the Force to bring to her grasp a jar of what looked like candy while sending a bundle of bandages back towards a medical locker. Alexa then handed the boy a piece of candy and was talking to him even as she sent the jar back from where she got it. "There you go, kiddo. Here's your candy for being such a brave little boy, and try to be safer this time round, hmm?"

The boy nodded, before grabbing the sweets and running out of the med-bay, possibly to find his friends. Ahsoka then turned her attention back towards the doctor, just in time to catch what she said next. "Well, everything checks out, other than you needing some food, you're good to go. Also, before you take off, General Resede wants you to come up to the bridge. I believe he wants to show you something or other." She then turned toward Alexa and called her name, grabbing Alexa's attention. "Alexa, you're done for today. Why don't you show Tano here how to get to the bridge?"

"Sure thing, Jazia! Come on, Ahsoka, let me show you around." With that, the two left, heading towards one of the turbolifts at dotted about the ship. Along the way, Alexa was explaining to Ahsoka everything she wanted to know about the _**Shadowblade**_ , showing her some of the key differences between this ship and the ones that were familiar to her.

"The _**Shadowblade**_ is a modified _**Scimitar**_ -class Dreadnought. She's about three and a half kilometers long, nine hundred and eighty meters in height, with a wingspan of five and a half kilometers. The _**Shadowblade**_ carries a command crew of three thousand personnel, along with an additional ten thousand soldiers, plus families. She also carries upwards of two to three hundred starfighters for protection. She is also the only ship in the task force that has primary and secondary shields, enabling it to take quite the beating before needing to recharge." She was then interrupted by Ahsoka, who was looking at her in shock.

"Wait, this ship has primary _and_ secondary shields?! What the hell are you using to power this monster?!" She exclaimed in surprise.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Alexa replied, looking at her in amusement.

Ahsoka just glared at her and said, "Try me." Alexa just shrugged and told her, causing her jaw to drop in response. "An artificial singularity."

She just stood there and watched as Ahsoka tried to say something for a couple of minutes, her mouth working but no words coming out. What she managed to say next succeeded in causing Alexa to start laughing and laughing hard. "A-A-A blackhole?! You guys are using a blackhole to power this ship?! Are you guys fucking _**NUTS**_?!"

"HAHAHA! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for laughing, but your face! Trust me on this, we are in more danger of smashing into an asteroid then we are of losing control of the singularity. The Romulan Star Empire and, later on, the Romulan Republic have been using artificial singularities for centuries. I would think that they would know what they are doing in that regard at least."

Ahsoka found herself blushing again, in response of both how she reacted and what she said. It was then that they had found a turbolift and entered it, seeing that they weren't the only ones in it, as Zak had also entered right behind them. "Bridge." Alexa said, enabling the lift to start moving.

After a few minutes, Ahsoka decided to ask a question that she had been thinking about for a couple of hours now, her curiosity getting the better of her. "So, how did you meet Master Resede?" When Alexa didn't answer, she looked over and saw that Alexa was hesitating about something, and through the Force, Ahsoka could feel the fear and pain that emanated from her. But before she could apologize for asking, Alexa spoke up.

"It was nighttime on Vega, when they came. A race of cybernetic organisms called the Borg. They were the thing of nightmares for the Federation, as a single Cube was capable of wiping out entire fleets of ships, and we were attacked by two Cubes and a Tactical Cube. The few ships in the area that tried to fight back were easily brushed aside, and the garrison didn't do much better either. By the time my parents were aware of what was happening, half of the colony had already been assimilated into their collective. I remember my mother waking me up and telling me to run to the woods like we had practiced. I was only four at the time, but I could see that she was scared about something, so I did as I was told, and ran for the woods. It was on my way there that I ran into a group of the Borg, as they were escorting all those that they had assimilated. My Father was in that group."

At this point, both Zak and Ahsoka could literally see the pain that the memory was causing on her face, though only Ahsoka could tell just how deep that pain was, thanks to the Force, at the fact that her father was assimilated by the Borg. After a deep breath, Alexa continued her story.

"I remember rushing out to my father, not understanding why he wasn't trying to escape from them. As I tried to pull him away to escape with me, I watched as my dad turned toward me, and it was then that I realized that my father was no more. His left eye had been replaced with some kind of cybernetic scanner, and his left arm, up to the elbow, had also been replaced. . . . I still see that face in my nightmares, and wake up screaming as I did then. It was then, just as the Borg was about to assimilate me, that I met the man who would eventually take my father's place, Rex. As the Borg had surrounded me, with my back against a wall, Rex had leapt off the building behind me and placed himself between me and them, glaring at them in anger."

 ***Flashback***

 _Little Alexa, who was on the verge of tears, had looked up at her mysterious rescuer in surprise, as he stood up between her and the monsters that had been reaching for her. In a low tone of voice, the stranger spoke up. "Okay boys, why don't you pick on someone your own size?"_

 _He then thrust his hand forward, and, much to her shock and awe, the scary monsters were blasted off their feet, flying back a good twenty or so meters! Then she watched as he grabbed a strange silver cylinder, roughly two feet in length, with several buttons on it. He pressed one of the buttons on it, causing two bright silver beams to appear with a SNAP-HISS._

 _The stranger charged one of the closer Borg drones, taking a swing at it with his pretty light sword. A green field appeared around the drone's body, the Borg's ability to 'adapt' to the frequency and power level of an enemy's weapon, trying to protect it from the incoming blade. But, to the drone's surprise and her awe, the light sword basically plowed through the shield like it wasn't even there and cleaved the drone in two! The other Borg drones in the area turned towards him and some started approaching, intending to assimilate him into the collective, while others opened fire on him, trying to knock his weapon out of his hands._

 _Alexa watched as her rescuer started swinging his sword around, deflecting the disruptor fire back at the Borg, killing several of them before they adapted to their own weapons fire. He then raised his hand again, and to her amazement, instead of just blasting them back again,_ _ **lightning**_ _shot out and slammed into all of the Borg in reach. The ones hit by it suffered for it, as the lightning basically fried most, if not all, of their cybernetic components. The ones that survived that, however, had other problems, as the stranger leapt into their midst, splitting his sword in two and started hacking them to bits, his blades a blur of destruction as he fought them off and away from her._

 ***Flashback Ends***

"Rex didn't stop fighting til after several ships from the Omega Force task group showed up, taking the burden off of his shoulders. It wasn't til later that I learned that the entire Vega colony hadn't been assimilated like I first thought, all because of him, Uncle Tovan, and the crew of this here ship. You see, they were coming to the colony to pick up medical supplies, and had arrived just after the last of Starfleet's ships was about to be destroyed. So while Rex and his MACO squads were on the ground helping with evacuations, his ship, alongside the _**Miranda**_ -class U.S.S. _**Chimera**_ and the Klingon Bird of Prey I.K.S. _**Blade of Kahless,**_ attacked the Tactical Cube and its escorts, a certain death sentence had Rex not spent time constantly modifying the _**Shadowblade**_ with all kinds of experimental prototype technology that he would later share with the rest of the Alliance after he worked out all the bugs. After the attack, he had decided to adopt me after learning that none of my family survived. And here I am, fourteen years later, exploring the galaxy that my new father came from."

At this point, the turbolift had arrived at the bridge. Ahsoka and Zak took the opportunity to look around, slightly curious as to why the area was so small compared any ship that was comparable in size that the two knew of, namely the _**Lucrehulk**_ -class battleships and the new _**Victory**_ -class Star Destroyers. They saw a large display screen along the back wall that showed the schematics of a ship, most likely the one that they were on. The display showed just about everything one would need concerning the ship, namely the floor plan of each deck, weapon systems, current shield strength, everything needed for ship operation. Directly opposite the display was what looked like a huge window to the outside of the ship, and what it was showing surprised the hell out of them, as the tunnel they were flying through didn't look at all like hyperspace. Instead of the gaseous appearance that hyperspace tunnels always take, this one was full of numerous streaks that were flying by at incredible speeds. Scattered about the center of the room were several different consoles, all with someone working at them for something or other concerning the ship. And in the middle of the bridge, surrounded by the various consoles, were three chairs, all of which were currently occupied. One they recognized as the general, Rex, while the other two, a male and a heavily pregnant female, both Romulan, were complete unknowns to Ahsoka, while Zak knew them to be the First Officer and Ship's Counselor, Tovan and Serena Khel.

As Alexa walked toward the three, Ahsoka and Zak began to listen to the conversation that was going on. "Whose turn was it today for the patrols, Tovan?" They heard Rex ask, before hearing Tovan's response.

"According to the schedule, it should be several of Martok's Birds of Prey. Why?"

"Simple, because they'll want to show off to the Jedi who defeated the Fek'Ihri and saved the Klingon Empire from their return.

"Father, I brought up Ahsoka and Zak, as you asked." Alexa said, before turning towards the display monitor. "So, Welcoming Party?

As she and Serena were talking, Rex turned to his guests, figuring that the pair would like some answers as to what was going on. "Welcome to the bridge. I'm sure that you have at least a few questions, so I'll answer what I can."

Zak and Ahsoka looked at each other, before he decided to start things off. "What's this about a Welcoming Party?"

"Klingons are a race of warriors, so they believe in glory and honor. Due to a series of events that had threatened the Klingon Empire, I myself am considered an honorary member of the House of Kahless, which was a high honor amongst them as Kahless was responsible for freeing the Klingons from a race of humanoids known as the Fek'Ihri, not to mention creating the Empire.

"What about where we are going?" Ahsoka asked, getting a contemplating look from him, before he looked back at the display.

"We are going to a planet lost to history, where my task force is currently stationed at studying the artifact that brought us here in hopes of reopening it for supplies from back home." He replied, drawing a confused look from the pair, before Ahsoka put it together. "You're talking about Tython, aren't you? How do you even know where it's at? The Jedi Archives don't even have it listed anymore, due to the hyperspace routes into the Deep Core being lost!"

"Simple. I remember the route in and out of the Core. I've been to Tython before, when the Jedi Order was stationed there during the war against the Sith Empire." He said, drawing an even more surprised look from her.

"Bu-but that was almost four thousand years ago!" Ahsoka cried out, with Zak looking shocked at the news, while Rex just chuckled at her, before replying, "Yeah, I look good for a four thousand year old lizard, wouldn't you say? Let's just say that my people were a rather long lived group of individuals."

"And who were your people, if you don't mind me asking?" Zak asked, after he got over his shock.

"The Saurians, a race that is now almost completely extinct, thanks to the Sith Lord Exar Kun, who, in fear of the Jedi of that time asking for help from us, wiped out my people by destroying our homeworld with his fleet." He answered, lost in his memories of that time, before continuing. "However, even though he wiped us out, we took our pound of flesh from him. Thanks to us, his fleets and armies were decimated to the point that he couldn't recover before the Jedi launched their own attack against him. So in a way, my people were the ones ultimately responsible for his downfall."

Before they could continue questioning him, the helmsman spoke up. "Sir, we're almost to our exit point."

"Good, make sure to signal the patrol after we exit warp. As for you two, please take a seat and enjoy the show."

* * *

Deep in the Core, hidden inside a nebula a few parsecs away from the Tython System, a small group of Klingon ships lay in wait, as part of today's patrol schedule. L'Kor, captain of the _**Vo'quv**_ -class Carrier _**Spirit of Qo'nos**_ , was watching his viewscreen for the arrival of any ship that exits warp at this point. His current forces include five _**B'rel**_ -class Birds of Prey, three _**Pach**_ -class Raptors, his ship and its squadrons of _**To'Duj**_ starfighters. The reason for this was that recently, a fleet of unknown ships had showed up near here, before jumping away into Hyperspace to a different destination. What had worried the fleet commanders was that the fleet had numbered close to five hundred capital ships, and over one hundred _thousand_ starfighters.

"Captain, the _**Shadowblade**_ is due to arrive in one minute." His tactical officer, a Jem'Hadar named So'Karn, called out, catching his attention.

"Good. All ships engage cloaking devices and stand by to attack if it is not the _**Shadowblade**_. _Qapla'_!" L'Kor said, watching as his attack group disappeared from view. He then sat down and listened as So'Karn counted down, watching for the ship to arrive.

". . . Five, four, three, two, one." The Jem'Hadar officer counted down, everyone tensing up for the possible encounter. The moment So'Karn finished counting, the _**Shadowblade**_ came out of warp and stopped, broadcasting the identification code for the month. L'Kor looked at his comms officer, who was checking to make sure that the correct code was being broadcasted. All outgoing ships were given two separate codes, one for the 'All Clear', and the other for 'Under Duress', and all ships on patrol had orders that if the 'Under Duress' code was broadcasted, they were to immediately disable the ship and board it, capturing anyone who wasn't part of the crew.

"Signal is 'All Clear', Captain." Gaila, L'Kor's comms officer and Orion girlfriend, said, turning towards him.

He nodded, before looking back at the viewscreen. "Signal all ships to decloak and assume escort positions."

* * *

Ahsoka watched as, to her amazement, several 'Klingon' ships just _fade_ into view! She only partially listened in on the conversation that was going on behind her as she watched the ships, which were moving with far more grace than ships of similar size had the right to move, move into what she assumed were escort positions.

"Something happened recently. A _**Vo'quv**_ , three _**Pachs**_ , five _**B'Rels**_ , and escorting fighters, that's far more than what was supposed to be here today." Serena said, looking at the viewscreen in worry. "What could have happened?"

"Johnson, hail the patrol leader. I need to know what's going on." Rex ordered, feeling just as worried, as Martok wouldn't have put more ships here without a damn good reason.

"Yes Sir." That had Ahsoka and Zak's attention, as Zak asked, "What's going on?"

"General, Captain L'Kor has requested that this conversation be had in your ready room, clearance level Delta."

"That's what I'm gonna find out. Tovan, you have the Bridge." Rex replied, heading to his ready room. Once inside, he activated the privacy field and turned on his comms. "Clearance level Delta: Two-Two-Omega-Resede-Zero."

"Clearance code accepted. Activating secure comms." The computer stated, before switching over to L'Kor's.

"General Revan, good to see you old friend. The reason I requested this is that I didn't want to scare your guests with this. As of eighteen hours ago, a massive fleet, with close to five hundred capital ships, came out of Hyperspace near the Tython system, sticking around only long enough to regroup before jumping again. Based on the info you sent us, it was a Separatist Fleet. Sending you the data, you definitely need to see the flagship."

Rex then looked at the data, which included a video that was captured via a Romulan stealth drone. Watching the video, he saw the flagship, a five kilometer long monster with close to five hundred turbolaser cannons and two massive ion cannons, according to a sensor readout taken by the drone.

"They never detected us?" He asked, looking up from the video.

L'Kor shook his head, "No, the moment the first ship exited Hyperspace, we went dark and sent in the drone. Martok had asked that upon your arrival, you join him and the others in a meeting to discuss what to do."

Rex nodded, before looking at the recording again. "Roger, I'll be there." It was then that he had a rather interesting thought. "Hey, L'Kor. How much of the task force is in the Tython System?"

"Roughly ¾ of the fleet, why?" He asked, seeing the grin on the General. Rex just leaned back, smirk firmly implanted on his face.

"Simple, I think our guests would like to see just how _big_ our little family is. Call it a gut feeling or a warning from the Force, but I think that our introduction to my home galaxy is going to be _**very**_ interesting."

"HA! If your gut feeling is correct, as usual, then it'll be a damn good day to die, General! _Qapla'_!"

* * *

Ahsoka watched as Rex returned to his seat, before looking back at the viewscreen, as it showed them approaching Tythos, the main sequence star that was the center of the Tython system. She couldn't even begin to try to hide the feelings of excitement that were welling up in her, merely at the thought of seeing the original home of the Jedi Order.

"Excited, are we?" Serena asked, giggling in amusement as Ahsoka jumped up a bit in surprise. After her heartrate was back to normal, Ahsoka grinned sheepishly, "That obvious?"

"Only to those that know what they are looking for. After all, I see it all the time in my husband's eyes every time we discover something new in this wide universe that we call home." Serena said, looking out the viewscreen as they approached the outermost planet in the system, Furies' Gate. And in orbit was Fury Station, an ancient space station that they repurposed a month after their arrival into a sensor array powerful enough to detect activity anywhere in the galaxy.

As they flew pass the station, Ahsoka and Zak started seeing ships of a design never before seen by anyone they knew, along with various space stations and what looked like defense turrets scattered all over the system. Serena took the time to explain any questions they had concerning the ships that where flying all around them, while keeping the classified details to herself.

"Over there, setting up those torpedo turrets, are _**Dhael**_ -class Romulan Birds of Prey. And those ships over there on patrol are _**Negh'Var**_ battlecruisers, and the lead ship is a _**Negh'Tev**_ , both belong to the Klingon Empire and are their mainline battleships."

"What about those saucer-like ships over there?" Ahsoka asked, pointing towards a group of ships that were flying past them.

"Those? Their Federation Science ships, specifically the _**Nebula**_ -class. That triangular section on the top there happens to house some of the most powerful sensors ever installed on a ship. Oh, looks like we'll be able to see some of our shipyards today as well." Serena said, pointing toward a series of space docks and repair cradles that were up ahead. Inside of them were different types of ships, with what looked like tiny shuttles and people in spacesuits hovering over them, doing inspections and repair work.

It was then that Ahsoka, tearing her gaze away from the space docks, saw it. Tython, the fifth planet in the system, along with its two moons, Ashla and Bogan, and it was more beautiful than she ever thought possible. As the _**Shadowblade**_ approached, Ahsoka took note of several ships orbiting a decent sized station in Tython's orbit, three of which caught her and Zak's attention, as they dwarfed the other ships in size.

Serena, seeing where they were looking, spoke up. "Those ships there are the other flagships of our task group. We have the Klingon flagship, I.K.S. _**Blade of Kahless**_ , a _**Martok**_ -class Tactical Battlecruiser. Then there's the U.S.S. _**Chimera**_ , a _**Yorktown**_ -class Science Starcruiser from Starfleet. And finally the _**Light of the Founders**_ , a Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier. They, along with the _**Shadowblade**_ , represent the four major groups of Task Force _**Shadowheart**_."

"And which ship is the strongest?" Zak asked, looking her in the eyes. What he didn't expect was for her to start laughing at the question. "Hahahaha. I'm sorry, hahaha, but in a straight fight, if there's such a thing as a straight fight, that's a toss-up, as those three were modified after the Iconian War from their original design. Like this ship, they were modified to be four times larger than a ship of similar make, as well as being stronger in terms of firepower, speed, shield strength, needless to say, the flagships are fully capable of fighting an entire fleet from home by themselves and come out the victor."

That statement caused their mouths to plummet, as the idea that a single one of the flagships was considered a fleet-killer was a _very_ bitter pill to swallow, though Zak had an easier time with it as he had seen the _**Shadowblade**_ in action.

After Ahsoka recovered from that shock, she then asked her another question. "What about the station? It's different from all the other stations that we flew by."

"That is the station responsible for powering the device that brought us here. We call the device an Iconian Gateway, and it's capable of transporting anything from a single ship to entire armadas to anywhere in the universe. If our scientists managed to fix it, then maybe we'll show you how it works."

* * *

After the ship stopped near the others, Ahsoka, Zak, and Lissark got to experience the use of transporters for the first time, which freaked the ever-living shit out of them as they were beamed onto the station. From there, they were taken on a small tour of the station, with a Romulan female named Satra, who was the lead Science Officer of the Iconian Gateway restoration, leading the tour.

"And this is the main control room of the station, where, once we can get it to work again, we can activate the Gateway, as well as work the station's various systems, like life support and point defenses. It is also, in my personal opinion, the best spot to view the planet Tython, as well as communicate with our research teams on the surface."

"Wait, you have research teams on Tython? Why would you need to, if General Resede told you about it himself? I mean, he is from here after all, so he would know all about it." Ahsoka asked, confused.

"While Rex has told us everything he knew about Tython, it was his idea to send research teams down, so that we could learn more about the planet's various ruins. Starfleet in particular is all about exploring different cultures, so everything that we can about Ancient Tython all the way to now is knowledge that we can use to further ourselves in a way." Satra replied, while leading them away from the control room and going to their last stop, namely the meeting with the leaders of the task force.

"Now, you'll be meeting with the other leaders of our fleet in the conference room up ahead, namely Fleet Admiral Williamson, Dahar Master Martok, and the Founder Odo. They, along with General Resede, will talk with you about any other questions that you might have. They might also have questions for you, so please answer them truthfully."

They nodded in understanding as she opened the door to the conference room. Once inside, they saw General Resede, along with three other individuals, sitting at a table facing them. The room itself was fairly large, with podium seats against the walls facing the center of the room, filled with various sentients sitting in them watching as they entered. In the center was a massive holotable, currently showing the system itself and all ship movements thereabouts. Behind each leader was a flag hanging down, each showing a different symbol. The green flag behind Rex had a large Raptor on it, the blue one behind the only human up there had a Delta with a star in the center, the red one behind the Klingon displayed a triangle split in three, and the purple one the Changeling was sitting in front of was showing a diamond with a reverse L shape in the center.

Satra led them to the front of the table, before saluting to the task force's leaders and then left the room, closing the door behind her. Ahsoka's attention was then brought back in front of her as Rex stood up.

"Welcome friends, to Skyriver Station, our first intergalactic command post for the Milky Way Alliance. You already know who I am, so I'll introduce my friends and co-leaders. To my left is Fleet Admiral Eric Williamson of Starfleet, my second-in-command of the Fleet. To my immediate right is Dahar Master Shaveth Martok of the House of Martok of the Klingon Empire and leader of our ground forces. Finally, to my far right is Odo, one of the Founders of the Dominion and Chief Scientist of our research and science teams."

"To either side of you are the various captains of the Fleet, all of whom may have a few questions for each of you. Now, if you may introduce yourselves, we can get started." He said, before sitting back down.

After looking at each other, Ahsoka decided to start things off, "My name's Ahsoka Tano, of the Jed. . . I mean, formerly of the Jedi Order. I'm a Togrutan." She said, almost forgetting for a moment that she was no longer a Jedi, which almost brought about tears once more at the memories of what led to her exile.

Zak, seeing that the Togrutan was deep in her memories, picked up on the introduction, "I'm Zak Nafren, captain of the _**Twilight Runner**_ and master smuggler. This is my First Mate, Lissark, a Trandoshan Hunter. I would like to thank you again for bailing me and my passengers out of that mess with the bounty hunters and CIS."

"Why were the bounty hunters after you Captain?" Odo asked, watching with interest how both Ahsoka and Zak looked at each other before answering.

"It was because the Separatists had hired them to destroy the resistance cell on Dantooine and to capture me for Count Dooku, leader of the Separatists. As for why, unfortunately, I don't know, just that I lost friends in that ambush, and I wasn't even there to help save them as I was on a supply run." Ahsoka replied, not noticing the look that was passed between the four of them, though Zak spotted it.

' _They know something, they know why she was captured.'_ He thought to himself, watching Rex in particular, as his eyes hadn't move from Ahsoka at all.

"I am sorry that your friends died, but I'm sure, in their minds, that it was a good death, one that was costly to the blHnuchs that chose to ambush instead of facing them in open, honorable combat, and one that had bought you time to escape, once you found out about the attack. Honor your friends by living in spite of the petaQ's attempt to capture you, and remember this: Revenge is a dish best served cold, and it is very cold in space." Shaveth said, partially to help steer her away from those dark thoughts of revenge.

"Do you possibly know the size of the Separatist fleet?" Eric asked, trying to get an idea of just how badly they were outnumbered by their soon-to-be opponents.

"Their fleets are about the same as the Republic's in size, the problem is that the majority of their ships are crewed by droids and they are mass-produced in factories, whereas the GAR have been relying on clones for the majority of their forces, and there is only one place where they are grown and trained, the planet Kamino, and unfortunately, it takes time to grow and train them." Ahsoka replied, only this time she caught the look that was passed between them. ". . . Why are you asking?"

All four looked at each other once more, before nodding. "The reason we asked, is that yesterday, a massive Separatist fleet, numbering close to five hundred capital ships of various makes, came out of hyperspace just outside this system. Upon detection, we immediately went dark, while sending in a stealth drone to get us a live feed of the fleet. These were the images we got back." Rex said, gesturing towards the holotable.

Turning, the trio watched the video, as the drone flew past ship after ship, up until it came to the lead ship, and the sight of the five kilometer monster froze Ahsoka's blood, as she had seen two others just like it, and the death toll that followed. "No. . . Not another one. . ."

That caught their attention, "Wait, there were more of that thing?!" Eric asked in shock.

"Two more, the _**Malevolence**_ and the _**Sssubjugator**_. The first was destroyed by smassshing it into a moon, and the second was boarded and dessstroyed by detonating its reactor. Hundredsss of ships were dessstroyed by them and they can and have absssorbed a ton of beatingsss by GAR cruisers. That monster is fully capable, by itself, of wiping out entire fleets. Sssupported as it is, I don't know how the Republic can stop it." Lissark replied, looking at the ship in fear.

"That's the point, they ain't supposed to. One doesn't send a fleet with a superweapon unless they plan on doing a lot of damage in a really short amount of time." Odo replied, adopting a thinking posture as he tried to think of their target.

"Founder, I believe that I know what their first target might be." A Vorta spoke up, standing as he did so. Odo and Rex looked in his direction, with Odo nodding to him. "Speak, Borath. What have you learned?"

"Founder, on my way back to the Tython System, my ship had intercepted a distress call from a General Kenobi, requesting any and all reinforcements to Kamino. Based on what we had just learned, I believe that this Separatist battlegroup is heading for Kamino, to knock out the GAR's ability to fight in this war, as well as to annihilate any Republic fleet that arrives before or after they attack. If they can cause enough damage, they _might_ be able to force the Republic into a surrender on _their_ terms."

Ahsoka couldn't believe what she had heard. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master and one of her friends, was in trouble, and there was nothing she could do to help him or her Master, Anakin . . . Or could she? Before she even realized it, Ahsoka heard herself crying out, "Please, you have to help them!"

This caused everyone to look at her, before Admiral Williamson spoke, "Why? Why do we need to help them? Don't forget, Miss Tano, we are not natives to this galaxy, and we definitely don't have a steady supply line or the ability to call for reinforcements at this time. So for what reason would we choose to help, especially given how the Jedi Order, in your own words to General Resede, basically threw you to the mob?" He asked, hating how he was making himself sound, but there was a reason for this. Before this meeting, Rex had explained what he saw in his vision in more detail, and had told them of his plan, to save both her and the Jedi Order. But the plan hinged entirely on Ahsoka, and her ability to forgive the Jedi for abandoning her to that bullshit trial, before she went into self-imposed exile.

That threw Ahsoka for a loop, as it totally killed the vast majority of her arguments to get them to help. Yes, the Order had tossed her aside during the bombing incident, and if it wasn't for her Master actually going out and catching the true culprit, she'd have been killed. Never mind how the Council then tried to pass it off as a 'trial', saying it was the will of the Force that this happened, which led her to leave the only home she had ever known, simply because, at the time, she couldn't find it in herself to forgive them.

It was then, for the first time in years, that she felt the Force give her a direction and course to follow, and in her heart, she felt that it was time to return to her family. Ahsoka then looked up, staring each of them in the eye, and catching Rex's look of approval, told them why they should help.

"Because, the Jedi Order, especially Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker, are my family. Yes, family can and will fight, but they also forgive each other, and I can't abandon them to what is certainly death and destruction, without trying my damnedest to save them, even if it leads to my death, at least then I tried to help."

Rex, Shaveth, Eric, and Odo looked at each other, nodding as they came to the same agreement, before Rex spoke their decision, "Then, there's really only one thing to say."

Standing up, Rex reached forward and pressed a button on the table before speaking out loud, bringing Ahsoka a feeling of hope for the first time in weeks. "Task Force _**Shadowheart**_ , this is General Resede. All hands, BATTLE STATIONS!"

 **A/N: Here it is, the next chapter of the story. Next time, the Battle for Kamino will start up, and the galaxy will never be the same afterwards. Don't forget, review, or I'll stuff you into a torpedo and fire it at the nearest star!**


End file.
